naturalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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naturalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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naturalized,
past participle, past
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naturalizing
present participle
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to confer upon (an alien) the rights and privileges of a citizen.
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to introduce (organisms) into a region and cause them to flourish as if native.
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to introduce or adopt (foreign practices, words, etc.) into a country or into general use.
to naturalize a French phrase.
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to bring into conformity with nature.
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to regard or explain as natural rather than supernatural.
to naturalize miracles.
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to adapt or accustom to a place or to new surroundings.
verb (used without object)
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naturalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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naturalized,
past participle, past
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naturalizing
present participle
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to become naturalized.
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to adapt as if native to a new environment, set of circumstances, etc.
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to study or carry on research in natural history.
verb
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(tr) to give citizenship to (a person of foreign birth)
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to be or cause to be adopted in another place, as a word, custom, etc
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(tr) to introduce (a plant or animal from another region) and cause it to adapt to local conditions
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(intr) (of a plant or animal) to adapt successfully to a foreign environment and spread there
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(tr) to explain (something unusual) with reference to nature, excluding the supernatural
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(tr) to make natural or more lifelike
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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naturalizesimple
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naturalizessimple
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have naturalizedperfect
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has naturalizedperfect
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am naturalizingprogressive
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are naturalizingprogressive
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is naturalizingprogressive
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have been naturalizingperfect progressive
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has been naturalizingperfect progressive
Past
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naturalizedsimple
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had naturalizedperfect
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was naturalizingprogressive
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were naturalizingprogressive
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had been naturalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of naturalize
Explanation
To naturalize is to make someone a citizen of a country or to adapt to living in a new place or enviroment. Naturalizing has several meanings that are all variations on the idea of becoming native. When an immigrant is naturalized, they become a full citizen of a country. Other types of naturalizing also involve foreign people or things fitting in. A foreign term — like adios — is naturalized because many English-only speakers use it. When something or someone is naturalized, they've learned to live and fit in somewhere new. They now fit in naturally.
Vocabulary lists containing naturalize
"A Place to Call Home," Vocabulary from the research study
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The 14th Amendment (1868)
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The Distance Between Us
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The people who are inside prisons naturalize them as much as people on the outside.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Nearly a dozen of my cousins left their native-born countries to come to the U.S. and eventually naturalize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2025
But Chinese citizens cannot naturalize, so the 35-year-old teacher has been considering a move to Japan, where he might eventually marry his Chinese partner.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024
Currently, more than 9 million lawful permanent residents are eligible to naturalize, meaning they could gain citizenship in time to vote in the November elections.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
The social and technological process by which we establish facts becomes invisible to us because we naturalize it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In effect, the movie naturalizes the urban environment.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
Hamaguchi likes to stack the narrative decks, and he’s fearless about folding in contrivances, which he naturalizes by not overworking them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
A staunch proponent of tighter immigration policies, the SVP says Switzerland naturalizes more foreigners than any other European nation, and official figures seem to support that claim.
From Time Magazine Archive
Both countries already make it easier for residents to become naturalized citizens than Persian Gulf states, which have extremely restrictive naturalization policies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Quiñones’ unit led a separate effort to find additional cases by reviewing whether people who’d recently become citizens had voted before they were naturalized, then lied about it in naturalization interviews.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Ten of the 11 people arrested on Wednesday were naturalized US citizens originally from China while the other was a green card holder.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
The amendment reads in part, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The weapon salve was thus to be brought within the sphere of experimental science, and strange facts were to be naturalized.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
That proposal to introduce something like an essay, I can’t see doing anything but trying to raise the level of intimidation and an effort to discourage people from naturalizing when they might otherwise be eligible.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2025
The plants spread by branching rhizomes and will seed in when happily situated, easily naturalizing under trees and large shrubs.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2023
According to Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link, the group that assisted me in my reinstatement process, adoption agencies actively discouraged adoptive parents from maintaining Korean citizenship for their children while naturalizing them in their new countries.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
Nearly six years since entering its embassy, Ecuador recently ramped-up efforts to secure Mr. Assange’s exit, including naturalizing him late last year after London refused Quito’s request to grant him diplomatic status.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2018
A great advance has been made at Hakgalla and Nuwara Eliya, in Upper Uva, and other high districts, in naturalizing English fruits and vegetables.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
